Innovation Hack 13 - You Know Nothing

Execution phase - Start with assumption definition and a test

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WHAT is it?

Innovation Hack 13 - Whenever you fall in love with an idea, ask yourself:
”What assumptions am I making?”

After defining all the assumptions ask this follow-up question
“How can we test these assumptions in a cheap, quick way?”
The question above is an alternative to destroying your idea with a pre-mortem - Innovation Hack 5 - Kill Your Own Darling.

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WHY is it important?

The assumption question checks how well you thought about your idea and how aware you are of your assumptions. A critical way of looking at an idea is especially important after the ideation phase. It makes the solution more robust.

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WHEN can it be used?

We basically know nothing about the quality of an idea. I’d always encourage you to take a critical look at your idea by asking yourself “What assumptions am I making here?”.
You’ll probably come up with assumptions like
I assume it’s the right design,
I assume people are going to love it,
I assume people are willing to pay for it,
I assume it’s one of the most important things for the customers.

Now, ask yourself “How can we test these assumptions in a cheap, quick way?”. After that, instead of bringing the idea to life, rather run small tests to validate if your assumptions are true or not.